Located on the lush and tropical Big Island of Hawai'i, the Hawai'i Tropical Bioreserve & Garden is a 40-acre botanical garden . The garden is home to a diverse collection of plants, flowers, and trees from all over the world, including rare and endangered species.

The Barker Dam Trail in Joshua Tree National Park is a hidden gem that offers a unique and unforgettable hiking experience. This trail is located in the Wonderland of Rocks area of the park, and is a short, 1.3-mile loop that takes hikers on a journey through the rugged beauty of the desert.

2022 was all about making lemons into lemonade. Adam and I spent an entire year airbnb hopping on a road of healing and discovery. Our favorites were Moab, where we immersed ourselves in the beauty of nature, and NYC, where we experienced the energy of a vibrant city after hibernating through the pandemic. 

The Skull Rock Loop Trail in Joshua Tree National Park is a mostly flat and sandy trail through a rock wonderland of massive Monzogranite boulders that are a unique feature of this National Park. This is a great trail for first time visitors and families.

Canyonlands National Park is not as well known as its neighbor Arches, but it’s worth the visit for its stunning desert landscape. The park itself is incredibly large, but I’ll focus on the most popular section, the “Island in the Sky.” This section is a massive flat-top mesa that you can drive onto that has many panoramic overlooks of the Colorado River. In this post, I’ll give you an idea of some things to do if you have 2 days to spend exploring Canyonlands.

Joshua Tree Distilling is a cute little shop inside of an industrial complex where you can try a sampling of spirits and cocktails locally named Lost Horse Whiskey, Black Hole Vodka, and Giant Rock Gin. Inside the space is a small bar and gift shop, and outside there are benches to sit and sip.

Try and gift more thoughtfully this Christmas and choose brands that have a purpose to better the world in some way, or brands that try to be as sustainable as possible. In this post, I’ll list a few of my favorites!

Are you heading to Death Valley National Park and not sure what to wear? Don’t worry, in this post I’ll cover the basics of what you’ll need to pack for a comfortable experience. Death Valley can get as high as 116 degrees in the summer and as low as 39 degrees in the winter. The weather can shift drastically from day to night at all times of the year, so be prepared!

The Western Pacific Railroad Museum preserves the history of the Western Pacific Railroad by collecting trains, railcars, documents, photos and information. As you walk the industrial lot you’ll feel the nostalgia of the locomotive era with its vintage steel train cars in an array of colors and condition. Whether freshly painted, rusted, or fading, these relics of the past are beautiful time stamps to the Industrial Revolution of steam engines and iron production.

The Wine & Rock shop in Yucca Valley is a quirky little shop with a great assortment of organic wine and craft beer. They have a super cute curation of beverages that have artistic labels and feel desert inspired. They also sell candles, backpacks, coffee table books and you guessed it, rocks! Stop in here to grab some bottles for your weekend getaway in Joshua Tree National Park, or to snag a souvenir. It’s adorable!

The hike to Wall Street Mill in Joshua Tree National Park is a flat sandy trail to a 1930’s gold ore crushing mill. The mill was built by Bill Keys and is on National Register of Historic Places. It’s the best preserved gold mill in the park. In this blog post, I’ll give you a little history and the info you’ll need to hike this trail.

Off the beaten path of Joshua Tree National Park is the outdoor weird and wonderful quirky art installations of the Glass Outhouse Gallery. If you like strange recycled desert art as much as I do, stop in to walk the path lined with empty glass bottles to find an array of interesting objects to ponder and photograph.